Into Time Itself
by storyteller274
Summary: Dr. Eliza Merrisson is an archeologist from Gotham City who was visiting Central City when the particle accelerator malfunctioned, giving her the power to control energy. She keeps it under wraps until one day when she is asked by some time traveler to become a legend and save the world. Now she has to deal with time masters, almost not existing and a thief with a cold fetish.
1. storytime

_Central City Museum_  
 _December 21st, 2013_

"And I am pleased to welcome to the stage, the one for if not for her, none of us would be here tonight. Ladies and gentlemen, Doctor Eliza Merrisson."

A loud applause broke through the halls of the Central City Museum of History, people dressed in their fanciest clothes cheered as someone walked on stage. She was dressed much like everyone else in the vicinity, with a light blue dress encrusted with crystals around the neckline and down her arms. Her dark brown hair was pulled away from her face as she smiled and looked around the room.

"Thank you. After 2 years of hard work and excavation, it is my aught most pleasure to welcome the pharaoh Amenhotep III, ninth pharaoh of the eighteenth dynasty, to Central City."

A red curtain that had been hanging behind the stage fell to the floor revealing the large room filled with relics of Egypt's past. Many gold pieces were showcased in glass cases, one of the biggest being a large sarcophagus made out of gold and stone. Statues on loan from the British Museum of History and the Cairo Museum littered the floor with the pharaoh's likeness for all to see.

The audience broke out into another round of applause, but just as the noise started to die down, an explosive bang made everyone stop short. Eliza, who as also clapping with the crowd, scrunched up her eyebrows in confusion and walked off stage towards the door of the museum. After moving through the crowd, Eliza walked out of the front door with some other patrons and watched as the STAR LABS particle accelerator let out a flash of blinding light. It seemed as if a wave of energy was released from the building, and was heading in all directions, including towards the Central City Museum. Eliza was the first to break out of her shock.

"Everyone inside! NOW!" She screamed, sending the others into a panic as they ran back inside. Eliza was just about to head in as well, but stopped short when a small girl came into view. She couldn't have been older than 6 years old and looked around confused and scared as everyone ran. Eliza didn't take a moment longer to run towards the little girl, pick her up and run to the doors to hand her off to a man holding the door for them. "Get inside. I'll shut the doors."

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"Yes, just go!"

The man ran off, little girl in his arms, just Eliza rushed in and shut the first of the glass doors. She was rushing to shut the second set when her heel got stuck on the metal wiring on the floor, making her not able to move on. Eliza tried to pull her shoe free, and as she looked over her shoulder she saw the energy from the particle accelerator moving faster in their direction. She wouldn't have time to unstrap her shoe from the buckle and shut the door. So Eliza pulled the doors towards herself, locking them in place with her arms and squeezed her eyes shut as she braced herself. The rumbling of the blast got more powerful as seconds flew by, and as Eliza was about to open her eyes, she was hit with the force of the blast. It pushed her painfully into the doors, trying to open them with its strength, but Eliza put all her weight into keeping them shut. Her skin burned as the wave of energy rushed over her, something in her brain felt like it was being branded as Eliza let out a large scream.

Far too long and all too soon, the wave passed. Eliza looked up to see through the door everyone from the event staring at her, shock written all over their faces. It was the last thing Eliza saw before she passed out, landing on the doors that she kept close to finally open as she fell through the doorway onto the floor.

 _4 months later . . ._

Her body felt like it was sinking into the ocean, the added weight from her drifting farther and farther down pushed on her muscles and lungs. But as if an air pocket appeared around her, Eliza took a quick breath, shocking the people in her hospital room. Cisco Ramon straightened his back in the chair he was sitting in to lean over Eliza's bedside, watching to see if his friend was waking up after so long. Barbara Gordon looked up from her phone and left the wall when she saw Cisco move closer to Eliza's bedside.

"El. Hey, can you here me?" Cisco asked softly, putting her hand on her arm. Both people in the room watched as their friend that has been in a coma for months scrunch up her eyes before blinking and looking around the room.

"Cisco?" Her voice was soft and it cracked as she spoke for the first time in 4 months. Cisco let out a laugh, relief flowing through him like a rapid river. Barbara smiled and walked over to the bed, catching Eliza's attention. "Barb?"

"Hey sweetness. You decided to take your sweet time waking up."

"What happened?"

"The particle accelerator at STAR LABS malfunctioned. The radiation from the explosion ended up hitting you at the exhibition opening and...you've been in a coma for four months." Cisco explained, his face showing the distress and guilt he felt.

Eliza looked over at Cisco in shock, "Four months?"

"El, I am so sorry. I was there that night-"

"Cisco," Eliza grabbed his hand from where it was on her arm. She squeezed it and gave him a small smile. "Its okay. I'm not blaming you for this."

"The good news is that you're awake now." Barbara spoke up, grabbing Eliza's other hand and putting her other on Cisco's shoulder.

"And the bad news?"

Barbara looked over to Cisco and squeezed his shoulder. "We have to do some tests later." Cisco said. Eliza looked between them in confusion, not really knowing what to say.

"What, why?" Eliza asked.

"We need to know how the particle accelerator affected you that night." Cisco said, sitting down on the bed near Eliza's legs.

"How do you know that it affected me at all?"

"Because since you have opened your eyes, they have been glowing red." Barbara said. She moved to the other side of the room and grabbed a small compact from her bag before walking back over and handing it to Eliza. The woman started to sit up before grabbing the compact and opening it to reveal that her eyes were indeed glowing. It was as if some mystic energy was trapped behind her irises and Eliza became almost entranced with the swirling movement the smoke-like energy was making.

"If it helps, you're not the first. There have been others affected by the particle accelerator and they have been given powers." Cisco piped in. Eliza snapped the compact shut and looked to her friend.

"Powers? You think I have powers?" She asked.

Barbara took back her compact and smiled at Eliza, "If your eyes are any indication, then yes. Don't worry, I'm not going back to Gotham until we know exactly what happened to you."

"And where do we go to figure all this out?"

A sigh escaped Cisco's lips as he uttered the answer. "Where it all started. STAR LABS."


	2. anywhere but here

_Central City  
January 26, 2016_

The cold winter air nipped at Eliza's skin as she walked down the streets of Central City. It was the first month of the year and snow was dusted on almost every surface. Eliza smiled as she watched the snowflakes fall softly from the sky, almost like powered sugar was being sprinkled over the city. She was walking passed a large store window filled with toy trains and dolls when her phone went off in her pocket. The small noise resembling the communicator from _Kim Possible_ made Eliza huff a sigh and pull out her phone. She knew whose ringtone it was.

"What's the sitch, Cisco?" Eliza asked, smiling at the same thing she said to her friend every time he called.

"Yo, Elli. Barry kind of needs your help on a situation downtown." Cisco explained through the phone. "I'm sending you the address."

"Got it. Tell Barry I'll be there in a flash."

"Oh my god. Do you have to say that all the time?"

"If Barry isn't going to do it, someone has to."

And with that, Eliza hung up her phone and looked to the address before rushing down the snowy streets to downtown Central City. Once she got to the address, it didn't take her long to find where the fight was happening. Eliza ran to the back of the abandoned warehouse and found her friend Barry Allen aka the Flash rushing around a man that resembled a worn out doll. He was moving his arms in inhuman ways, like bending his elbow all the way in the wrong direction to grab onto Barry's throat and start to strangle him.

"What are you gonna do now, Flash? Anything you try is going to be a real _stretch_." The villain said, putting a lot of pronunciation on stretch. That was when Eliza had to step in.

"Hey, Raggedy Anne!" Eliza called out, getting the guy to look over in her direction as she took off her gloves.

"And you are?"

"No one really. It's nothing you have to worried about for long." Eliza smirked and curled her fingers, showcasing her powers. Around both her hands appeared a red like mist that moved of its own accord around her fingers. The man holding Barry faltered as she stared at her hands, and that was what Barry needed to land a punch on the guy and run to Eliza's side with a small smile.

"I was handling it." He said, his voice cracking before he cleared it. Eliza smirked at the speedster, keeping her eyes on the man getting up from the punch.

"Was that before or after he started choking you out?" She asked. Barry rolled his eyes and watched along with Eliza as the man rose and smiled at the two almost like another villain they had encountered, the Trickster. It was then when Eliza noticed that the man's skin was sewn together like someone was trying to do some patch work on a pair of jeans and failed. "Who is he?"

"Peter Merkel Jr, he's a contortionist that had surgeries done on his joints to bend to the extremes. It gets so bad that he has to patch up his own skin because it tears at the lengths he forces his limbs to bend." Barry explained.

Eliza made a face at this and shook her head. "He looks like a ragdoll."

"Ragdoll! That's his name, boom!" Cisco's voice sounded through Barry's coms in his suit. Ragdoll's smile widened even more as he pulled out a knife from his pants pocket, tossing it between his hands.

"Come on heroes! I'm ready for you!"

"So what do we do?" Eliza asked. Barry looked to her and then got a smirk on his face as a plan came into his head. Eliza noticed this and asked, "What?"

"You know that fear thing you've been working on?" He asked.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think you could give it a try?"

"I would have to get closer. He can't see me coming."

The speedster smiled and started jumping on his feet, "I got you. I'll distract, you give him the worst nightmare ever." Barry then sped off, circling around Ragdoll like before, but stopping every once in a while; taking his attention off Eliza. Said girl started to creep up, making sure not too move to fast to make Ragdoll notice. And as soon she got close enough for Merkel Jr see her, Eliza went to work. Her fingers moved towards her head and started to move almost in a mystical sort-of-way, making Ragdoll stop in his tracks and his eyes glaze over.

Memories of Ragdoll started to filter through Eliza's head, and the nightmare that entered the villain's head was more memory than anything. A small child was being screamed at by a much larger man, the fear was so present that a chill went through Eliza's body. Once she saw the man force the kid into a small box, she pulled out of his mind and left him almost like a real ragdoll.

Barry stopped at Eliza's side as she pulled on her gloves again, looking down at the incapacitated man. "Good job." Barry then walked over to Ragdoll and pulled him up from where he had fell to his knees. "I'm gonna run him to the pipeline and come back for you."

"Alright." Eliza said, giving him a strained smile before the Flash rushed off with another villain. Seeing other people's memories was not Eliza's favorite thing about her powers. The first time it happened was with Barry, and she saw the horrific scene of his mother dying when he was young. She hated being able to see things like that. Just as Eliza pushed her hands into her coat pockets, a voice that wasn't Barry's spoke up out of nowhere.

"Hello, Miss. Merrisson. It is a pleasure to meet you." Turning around, Eliza caught eyes with a man she had never met. He was rugged looking with a beard adorning his face, but was also dressed in a brown trench coat and a holster on his hip holding some gun. "We history buffs have much to discuss."

Before she could respond, the man pulled out some device that let out a large flash of light.

* * *

Waking up on something cold and hard was not the way to get on Eliza's good side. Eliza opened her eyes and moaned as she sat up only to see that she wasn't the only one waking up that way. Next to her were eight others who looked just as cranky at their apparent kidnapping. Someone on the end was the first to speak up.

"Stein? What are you doing here?"

"I'm as ignorant as you, for once."

"Where are we?"

"Why don't you ask the dude who knocked us out and kidnapped us? British dude with a flashy thing ring any bells?"

"The name is Rip Hunter." Eliza looked over holding her head to the man she saw at the warehouse. He walked over to the group with confidence she hadn't seen in a while. "I'm from East London. Oh, and the future."

"Nice to meet you Rip." One man said sarcastically, going to grab the rather large gun from his holster.

"Uh, while you were incapacitated, I may have tampered with your weapons." Rip explained. The man growled at this, not liking that his toy wasn't working. "I've assembled you all because I need your help. The future of the world is in peril because of a man named Vandal Savage."

A beat of silence passed as Eliza watched a couple dressed in similar costumes look to each other. "That can't be." The man said. "We destroyed him."

"Yeah, the Green Arrow and Flash helped us do it."

"And therein lay the problem. Unless you or Mr. Hall deliver the death blow, Savage can be restored from a single cell."

"What the hell are you talking about?" The man with the gun asked.

"I would like to know as well." Eliza said, crossing her arms over her chest. That got most of the group aside from Rip to look in her direction.

Another man, dressed in a blue winter coat and strapped with a gun looked to her and spoke as if his first language was sarcasm. "And who are you?"

"None of your business, MC Widow's Peak."

The man smirked at her but said nothing back as the other guy, Mr. Hall, spoke up. "Vandal is immortal. Kendra and I reincarnate."

The blonde a few feet away said, "Yeah, I've done that." Breaking the small amount of tension in the group. But leaving Eliza with even more questions.

"And what does this Randall guy got to do with us?"

"Vandal. In the future, he will employ the evil he's perfected over his long life, and the power he as amassed throughout history to finally conquer the world. I've been talked with assembling an elite team to stop him." Rip explains, walking passed each person as he told his tale.

"How?" Asked the blonde.

"To travel through time. To capture Savage before he grows into the monster he becomes."

"You've got the wrong guy." Winter coat said, walking over to Rip. "Hero ain't on my resume." The bigger man with the gun wasn't too far behind.

"Or mine."

Eliza was about to walk with them, feeling as though she was not meant to be here. "Sorry to disappoint, but this all seems too _Doctor Who_ meets _X-Men_ for me."

"I know that it is difficult to fathom, but where - when I'm from, the year 2166, you and everyone on this roof aren't just considered heroes . . . You're legends."

Eliza turned back to Rip with an eyebrow raised. _Legends? Really?_ Everyone else seemed to be mulling over the word as well as seconds passed. A guy at the end dressed in some bionic suit spoke up. "Legends?" As an older gentleman followed.

"I, um, I hate to nitpick, but doesn't a legend have to be dead?"

"Yeah, see, uh. That's a deal breaker for me, so I'm gonna pass." The youngest of the group said. He was a boy, probably in his early twenties with dark skin and dressed very casually.

"It's dangerous for any of you to know too much about your own futures, but I am here because each of you, as individuals, is destined for greatness." Rip said. The bionic man nodded at the foreign man's words, seeming to be the only one okay with what was happening.

"I could get behind that."

"And, because if you don't follow me, this is what is in store for your world 150 years from now."

By some futuristic technology, the buildings of the city surrounding them disappeared to showcase a landscape of fire and destruction. Ruins of what once was made Eliza's stomach drop to her feet. Flying ships of some kind fired lasers down at the city below, only causing more destruction to the burning city. The next second, the image was gone and Rip had started to talk again, gaining Eliza's aught most attention.

"I could have chosen any time and any place. Of all the people who ever lived, I chose you nine. I certainly hope that you won't let me, and the world down."

 ** _SO here's the first chapter! I know Eliza doesn't do too much, but that's mainly because she doesn't want to do too much. She's not a real hero like Barry, she does occasionally help once in a while and practices her powers with help from Team Flash. But she is not a hero...yet. That is why she didn't recognize anyone on the roof, she mostly stays out of the danger and such._**


	3. not the TARDIS

**_just a DISCLAIMER: From here on out, there will be a multitude of Doctor Who references. If you are uncomfortable with this I am sorry, I started with one and it snowballed from there._**

 ** _and now . . . ON WITH THE SHOW_**

Rip left the group on the roof, saying to meet at a certain address in 36 hours if they wanted to join on his mission. Everyone went off in their own directions, and Eliza was so conflicted about the decision in front of her, she headed to her apartment calling the few people that could help.

"Man, that is so wild." Cisco said, sitting down on Eliza's couch with a box of takeout in his hands. Eliza nodded as she tucked into her own box. A laptop was set up in front of them with Barbara on the screen, yawning as she had been woken up to be a part of the conversation. "So you will literally be becoming a companion and helping save the world while traveling through time and space?"

"I think it's just time." Eliza said, sighing and putting her box on her coffee table. She ran a hand over her face, frustrated and confused. "My god, what the hell do I do?"

"You go!" Cisco yells, making Barbara jump on the screen.

"What?"

"I have to agree with Cisco on this. You'll never get another opportunity like this one in your lifetime." Barbara said as she ran a hand through her hair. "Think about it; traveling through time, working with other heroes as you save the world from a mad man."

"It sounds like I've stepped into a fanfiction." Eliza mumbled.

Cisco, who finally put down his takeout box, moves closer to his friend and puts a arm around her shoulders, trying to give her some comfort. "Hey. You can totally do this."

"But do I want to do this? I'm not Barry, I'm not a hero."

"But you can be. You were given the powers you have from the particle accelerator for a reason-"

"Because Eobard Thawne wanted to make the Flash." Eliza said with a smirk, making Cisco roll his eyes.

"You know what I mean."

"El," Eliza looked over to Barbara on the screen who was smiling. "I think you need to see something." There was noise sounding like typing of the keys and to replace Barbara's face was a video off YouTube. It started to play and a news reporter stood in front of the Central City Museum.

 _"After all the mayhem and destruction the STAR LABS particle accelerator had caused last night, there is one shining beacon to stand out. Last night, here, at the Central City Museum, a hero rose to help."_

She walked over to a couple and Eliza recognized the man as the one she handed the little girl to that night. _"Sir, can you tell us what you saw?"_

 _"The honored guest of the night, Eliza Merrisson, protected us from whatever the particle accelerator did. She held the doors together and made sure none of the radiation or whatever got to us. I just hope she's okay."_

After nodding to the man, the news reporter moved to bend down and Eliza smiled at the small little girl, now holding onto a raggedy teddy bear.

 _"Anything you want to say to the lady that saved you?"_ The news reporter asked.

 _"Yeah. Miss Merrisson? Thank you for saving me from the bad thing. And I hope you feel better. You're my hero."_

 _"And there you have it. Back to you, Jerry."_

The video ended and it dawned on Eliza that her eyesight had gotten fuzzy. Her eyes had started to water while watching the clip. Eliza wiped her eyes and took a deep breath, Cisco watching from his spot next to her.

Once she stopped rubbing her eyes, she turned to Cisco and gave him a smile that told him her answer. After that, Cisco jumped up from his seat and cheered so loud, Eliza had to shush him.

"Dude, you're gonna wake up my neighbors." Eliza said, laughing at Cisco's elated face.

"Don't care, you're going to be time traveling."

"Why are you getting so excited? Barry can time travel, and he has a bunch of times." Eliza asked.

Cisco then crouched close to Eliza's face and used a very low tone. "Yeah but you're gonna do it in a time machine. Oh! I need you to come by STAR LABS before you head out to the address."

"Why?" Eliza asked, eyebrow raised. Cisco smiled and stood up, hands on his hips and an air of confidence surrounding him.

"Let's just say that I knew that this day would come. I also need you do me a favor."

* * *

Near the end of the 36 hours, Eliza had taken the train to the meeting spot which ended up being in the middle of nowhere. With a bag filled with clothes, her essentials, and the present that Cisco gave her, the archeologist looked around for a sign of anything. It wasn't until a few minutes later when a shiny silver convertible pulled up near her. Inside was the older gentlemen from the roof and the younger kid who looked to be sleeping.

"Ah, hello. You were on the roof with us the other night, correct?" He asked, getting out of the car and rounding it to reach her side.

"Yes, sorry there wasn't any real time for introductions." Eliza said with a smile and held out her hand. "Dr. Eliza Merrisson."

"Doctor? May I ask what you are a doctor of?"

"Archeology."

The man nodded his head and took her hand for a firm shake. "Well, Doctor Merrisson, I'm Professor Martin Stein. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"The feelings' mutual."

"So, what do you make of this?" Stein asked, gesturing out to the noticeable nothingness in the area.

"Professor!"

Eliza and Stein turned to see the rest of the group walking towards them. The one that had spoken up was the one in the blue winter coat. "This is the place."

"I think we're being punked." Commented a young looking man with black hair. He was the one in the bionic suit the other night. He then turned to the blonde and asked, "Do people still say punked?"

And she responded with a simple, "No."

"I see you're buddy threw himself a going-away party."

"Yes, I believe he drank something that didn't quite agree with him." Stein said, tucking in a piece of paper into his jacket pocket.

"I don't mean to point out the obvious, but it seems to me that the only one who we know nothing about is you." Winter coat said, pointing to Eliza. Everyone's heads turned to look at her, and she watched as a few looked at her with distrust. "So start talking, lady."

"It's not like I'm hiding anything. My name is Eliza, I'm from Gotham City and was affected by the particle accelerator when I came to visit Central." Eliza explained as she glared at Winter Coat.

"Why were you in Central?" The darker skinned woman with brown curls asked.

Eliza sighed and crossed her arms over her chest, "I was presenting a new exhibit at the Central City Museum. I'm an archeologist and-"

"Wait! Dr. Eliza Merrisson? I read about you in National Geographic!" Bionic man said, a giant smile coming on his face as he walked towards Eliza and shook her hand. "You've made one of the biggest archeology finds of the century with Amenhotep III. I've been wanting to meet you for a while. I'm Dr. Ray Palmer, of Palmer Industries."

"Woah, okay. It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise."

"We might as well get the introductions over with now. I'm Carter Hall, and this is Kendra." A man that Eliza remembered on the roof spoke up. He pointed to the woman besides him, the woman that asked why Eliza was in Central.

"Kendra Saunders." She said, giving a wave. Eliza waved back. The blonde then walked up to Eliza and gave a small smile. Now that she was up close, Eliza got a good look at her and it was as if a memory was tickling at her mind like a feather.

"Sara Lance."

"Hey. Have we met before? You look really familiar." Eliza asked. Sara squinted and got a good look at Eliza before smirking in a way that Eliza didn't know how to feel about.

"Yeah, we have. 2010, at Obhur just outside Jeddah, Saudi Arabia." Sara explained. It took Eliza a few seconds to think before her face got very red and Sara's smirk widened. The group looked rather confused at what was happening, so Ray tried to diffuse the situation.

"Anyway, the one in the car is Jefferson Jackson, or Jax. And those two are Leonard Snart and Mick Rory."

"Don't be giving out our names, Hair Cut." The bigger out of the two grumbled, taking a step towards us.

Winter Coat put his arm out to stop him, his eyes never leaving Eliza. They were cold and blue, giving Eliza goosebumps."Now, now Mick. Play nice." he said.

 _I guess that would make him Snart._ Eliza thought just as another voice made everyone turn.

"Well, I see you've all decided to come." Rip called out, clasping his hands together in front of him. "Well then, we can be on our way."

"I ain't footing it anywhere." Snart said, crossing his arms over his chest. Rip turned to him, and Eliza could tell by the look on his face that he had something in store for them.

"A Time Master's sacred charge is to do no harm to the timeline. Can you imagine what a time ship would look like in, say, Victorian England?"

"Holographic indigenous camouflage projection." Stein said.

"Indeed." And with a click of some remote, the barren city setting was changed to show a large ship. It could only be described as what Eliza would say is futuristic with its hard metal body and what appeared to be some high-tech glowing engine.

The group stood in awe at the machine which got a smile on Rip's face. "It's called the Waverider. It's been my ship for over a decade." He explained. He then turned to the group and asked, "Shall we?"

* * *

Walking through the ship was like walking into the future, and considering that the Waverider was a "time ship", they could end up doing that. Everything was metallic or chrome-like, and Eliza was looking around like a child walking through the mall at Christmas time. Once they got to a bigger room with a large table top and 9 chairs (one ahead of the other eight), Eliza put her bag down and pulled something out of it. A red fez was in her hand and she sighed as she pulled it on her head. A chuckle was heard and Eliza turned to see Sara with a hand over her mouth, muffling her laughter.

"What are you doing?" she asked. Eliza sighed again and pulled her phone out from her back pocket.

"Doing a favor for a friend of mine."

That was all Eliza said as she put her phone up and took a selfie of herself with the fez showing the table top and chairs in the background. As soon as the picture was taken, Eliza pulled the fez off and stuffed it back in her bag and through the bag in the library looking room right near her before moving to join back with the group.

How does a vessel of this size function without a crew?" Stein asked Rip. The time master smiled and gestured to the tabletop.

"I don't need one, I have Gideon."

Just then, a holographic face appeared above the table top. It resembled a pretty woman but with no real distinguishing features, almost like a blank slate.

 **Welcome aboard. I am Gideon, an interactive artificial consciousness programmed to operate this vessel's critical systems and aid Captain Hunter in his mission.** She said. Eliza raised an eyebrow and turned to Rip in question.

She wasn't the only one either.

"Captain?" Both Eliza and Snart asked. Once they caught that they both said the same thing, they turned to each other. Snart smirked at her and gave a air of smugness and cockiness.

"Jinx." He said. Eliza rolled her eyes as Rip went to explain.

"Gideon's been working on helping me locate Vandal Savage."

"I thought you said he's pretty active in the 22nd century." Ray said, hands on his hips and a quizzical look on his face.

"Perhaps engaging Savage at the height of his powers isn't the best strategy." Stein said.

"Indeed. Unfortunately, Savage has kept his movements hidden throughout history. Not even Gideon can determine where or when we can find him. But, I have the next best thing: the man who can." Rip walked to the tabletop that now instead of projecting Gideon was showing the group a picture. The picture was that of an older man with dark skin and graying hair. "Professor Aldus Boardman. Professor Boardman is the world's leading, well only, expert on Vandal Savage. We're gonna pay him a little visit."

 **Course plotted for St. Roch, New Orleans.**

"St. Roch?" Carter asked confused.

 **October 17th, 1975.**

"I suggest you all strap yourselves in. Temporal navigation isn't something one wants to be standing up for." Rip said as he hurried to the one chair ahead of the others. Everyone was moving to their seats, and as Eliza went to go sit down, she noticed something that made her call out to Rip.

"Hey, _Captain?_ " Eliza said, raising her hand almost sarcastically. "I hate to say it but you are one chair short."

Rip looked towards Eliza and looked as if he was remembering something. "Oh right, Ms. Merrisson. There should be a panel near your feet? Can you just tap that please?"

Eliza looked down and saw a small panel on the floor that was somewhat raised from the rest of the floor. She stepped on it and that's when she realized it was a button that opened a hatch that brought up another one of the chairs everyone else had. Eliza watched as the chair flopped open and the harness opened to let her sit. She was between Ray and Kendra and slowly pulled down the harness as of she was about to go on an amusement park roller coaster.

"Time travel. Cool." Mick said, pulling his own harness down over him.

"Some of you might experience some slight discomfort. In very rare instances, there will be some, uh, bleeding from the eyeballs." Rip said, his sentence trailing off at the end but not enough for the group to not hear him.

"I'm sorry, what?" Kendra asked.

Rip did not respond to her but pressed a button on the arm of his chair and the ship started to rock with ignition. The floor panels underneath their feet glowed a futuristic blue as nerves of excitement and fear started to pile in Eliza's stomach.

"The human body is used to time unfolding linearly." Rip said. We all looked at each other as the ship started to move and make almost a whirling noise. From the corner of Eliza's eye, she saw that Jax, who has been unconscious this entire time, start to wake up.

"Jackson, I am so glad you are awake. I didn't want you to miss this." Stein said, still looking around amazed. The still foggy Jax looked around confused.

"Miss what?" he asked. Once he finally got his bearings, his eyes got wide and fury came onto his face. "What the-"

"Oh no, I wouldn't unfasten those if I were you." Rip shouted over the ship when Jax went to get out of his chair.

"Get me off of this - whatever this thing is!"

Sara smirked and looked at Stein. "Good luck explaining this."

"I did him a favor." Stein said.

"He doesn't look all that grateful." Snart pointed out sarcastically.

Jax was still looking confused and angry as Rip said, "Just hang on and remain calm."

His chair rotated to face the large viewing window, the ship now moving more sporadically than before. "All your worlds are about to change."

And with a push of the lever on his arm chair, they were off.


	4. blare witch walks into a bar

The ride in the Waverider seemed to have been long and short at the same time, maybe it had something to do with it being a time machine. Either way, the team soon landed in what Eliza assumed was 1975. The team was all feeling different things as the ship came to a halt. Ray immediately stood up with a big grin on his face like a child in a candy store. Mick on the other hand leaned over to his side and threw up.

"Oh, I should have mentioned before. Nausea is one of the side effects of time travel. Along with-" Rip was cut off from his explanation when Ray belly flopped onto the floor. "Vertigo."

"I can't see." Professor Stein exclaimed, blinking his eyes trying to regain his eyesight. Eliza, who had stood up from her jump seat, was shaking her right arm around.

"And I think my arm went numb."

"Temporary blindness and slight numbness are also included in there somewhere."

Eliza stretched her mouth into a strained grin and said, "Fantastic."

"It should only last a minute. After all, that was a mere jaunt. The further back in time you go, the worse the side effects." Rip went to help the Professor and asked, "Better?"

"Its all relevant." The professor mumbled.

"Good."

Jax, who Eliza had forgotten about for a second, turned to Stein with anger laced into his every word. "I can't believe you kidnapped me." He then turned to the captain, "Hey, I wanna go home."

"Good news then. 2016 will be around in, uh...41 years." Rip said, not really seeming troubled with Jax's demands. The team watched from either around the tabletop or from their seats still getting used to the aftershocks of time travel as Rip started to give orders. "Now, you four, feel free to make yourselves comfortable back here on the ship, while the rest of you are coming with me to find Professor Boardman."

"Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah."

Eliza turned to Mick who looked very disgruntled with being stuck on the ship. "You're benching us?"

"I thought we were a team." Sara said, standing up from her seat.

"This mission doesn't require your particular skill set. Yet." Rip explained. But that didn't make the few feel any better.

"Meaning you don't need anyone killed, maimed, or robbed." Snart spoke up.

"Precisely."

"Now wait, hold on." Snart said, standing up from his seat. He pointed his thumb at Eliza who had finally gotten feeling back in her arm and had them crossed as she watched things develop in front of her. "What's her excuse? Was she put on the naughty list for something we don't know about?"

"Yeah, I would like to know that too. If anything, I would be able to help talk to Professor Boardman and help with the history aspect of this 'mission'." Eliza explained, putting air quotes around _mission_.

The time traveling Captain sighed and pulled Eliza aside quickly, and started talking in a hushed tone. "Miss. Merrisson, I know how one of your skills is your vast knowledge of history. But I do need to you stay on the ship and...watch over our friends."

"You mean babysit them?" Eliza asked. This is not what she agreed to when she signed on for this trip.

"No, no! Just, make sure they don't-"

"Kill, maim or rob anyone." Snart's voice repeated his earlier statement, making annoyance roll over Rip like a wave.

"Yes, thank you Mr. Snart. Now, we better hurry up. Professor Boardman will die in less than 24 hours."

"What's the point in cutting it so close?" Ray asked.

"Because if he is destined to die, then he doesn't have a timeline for us to disrupt and his impact on the future will be minimal. How brilliant." Stein deducted.

Kendra spoke up what pretty much everyone else in the room was thinking. "And depressing. How does he die?"

"Uh, he's found dead in his university from unknown causes. Come on." Rip explained as he ushered the group to the hall and out of the Waverider.

Stein hesitated when he didn't see Jax following him out with the rest. "Are you coming?" he asked.

"I'll stay put."

"You'd rather stay with them?"

"They didn't drug me."

Stein quickly said, "Point taken." and left the bridge before the room could get anymore awkward. Eliza turned to the group in front of her and sighed.

"So, what now?"

* * *

It had been two hours since Rip and the rest of the team had left to find Professor Boardman, and Sara, Snart, Mick, Jax and Eliza were all getting antsy being cooped up in the steal cage. Mick had taken to watching local television on one of the monitors, but still hadn't quite grasped one concept of it.

"Why does this stupid station play nothing but reruns?" he asked. Sara, who had been pacing to fill the time, went to explain when Jax stopped her.

"Don't even bother trying to explain."

"Am I the only one on this ship who could really use a drink?" Sara asked. Eliza turned from her view of the trees from the viewpoint window as Snart turned with a cold smirk. "I say wo go get weird in the '70's."

"Excellent idea."

"I got the perfect outfit."

"Um.. Aren't you going to stop them?" Jax said, turning to Eliza. Rip did put her in charge of them, technically. But to his surprise, she shrugged.

"All I have to do is watch them to make sure no one dies. He didn't say I couldn't watch them at a place where alcohol would be provided." Eliza explained.

Mick pointed at her with his heat gun like it was an extension of his arm, "I like the way your thinkin'."

 **Perhaps Captain Hunter was unclear with his instructions to remain on board.**

"Shut it metal mouth." Mick said, as the four adults walked away from the bridge. Jax was following as well when Snart came to a stop.

"Oh, you're not quite ready to run with this crew. Sorry kid."

"Wait, you're just going to leave me here?" Jax asked.

Snart started to walk away while continuing his conversation, "I said I'd take car of you." Mick followed as Eliza went to grab her bag from where she threw it at the beginning of all this. She turned once her bag was slung over her shoulder to Jax.

"It's better if someone stays behind to watch the ship."

"Just keep telling yourself that and go." Jax said, turning his back to her and walking back towards the monitor Mick was watching. ELiza sighed, and left Jax to find her room that Rip had assigned her. Once she was behind closed doors, Eliza tossed her bag on the bed and dug through it to find a package wrapped in newspapers. A small white paper was taped on the top with some of Cisco's messy chicken-scratch handwriting.

 ** _I'm glad you're taking Barbara and mine's advice, you'll make a great hero. And I hope you wear this when you do._**

 ** _-Cisco_**

 ** _P.S. - I also decided you need a bad ass hero name. So, welcome to the hero life; Blare Witch_**

 ** _P.S.S. - Don't forget my picture._**

A smile creeped its way onto Eliza's face and placed the card aside before ripping the poor paper apart. Inside was a red leather (or tri-force polymer) outfit with a long trechcoat top, an under top with a silver tipped belt that would go around her waist, black leather pants and fingerless gloves. She smiled bigger and held the jacket in front of her and just marveled at the craftsmanship.

"Thanks Cisco."

Eliza quickly got dressed in her new hero outfit with a pair of her black boots to match, and was walking out of her room when she saw Sara leaving hers. She was also dressed in a new hero outfit which was all white with a halter top and utility belt. They eyes met and they smiled, Sara getting a good look at Eliza's new duds.

"Well look at you." She said, walking toward Eliza and they soon fell into step with each other.

"Yeah, I look like a cherry popsicle." Eliza said, getting a laugh out of Sara. The two walked in silence after that, mainly because Eliza didn't know what to say to the assassin after remembering her. "So, you're an assassin?"

"Yeah. I worked with the League of Assassins."

"But not anymore?"

"No, not anymore. I"m sorry I didn't tell you back in Jeddah."

"Don't worry about it. What we were doing at the time, there wasn't a lot of talking if I recall."

Sara's smirk widened and she turned her head forward as Eliza blushed at her own words. Snart and Mick soon met with the ladies near the opening of the ship. Snart raised an eyebrow at Eliza, her face still fairly pink.

"Why all red faced, Doc?" He asked as the four of them walked off the ship. Eliza shook her head and turned away.

"None of your concern. Let's just find a place where we can forget for a little bit."

"She's speaking my language." Mick said over his shoulder. He then turned and pointed to Eliza, "I'm starting to like you."

"You should take that as a compliment. Mick doesn't really warm up to anything besides fire." Snart said. Eliza nodded, and gave a small closed lip smile as they walked through 1975.

* * *

The bar the group found was filled with people; it looked to be mostly tough bikers and their chicks. Mick was at the bar grabbing the group their first rounf of drinks while Sara, Eliza and Snart waited by one of the poles near a Native American Chief statue. Once Mick came back, he handed everyone a bottle of beer with a sigh.

"Ah, dollar beers!" He said over the crowd. "You gotta love the '70's."

Eliza held her bottle up in a small "cheers-to-that" motion before starting to drink.

"Who wants to listen to some Captain and Tennille? My mother played it. A lot." Mick left after that, finding the jukebox just a few steps away from the group.

Soon music started to play, and the three were approached by one woman looking to be a hippie. "Wow, you guys are really far out." She made quick eyes at Sara before walking away.

"You want to dance, Leonard?" Sara asked, turning to Snart. But he smirked and gestered to the dance floor.

"You go right ahead. I'll watch."

"Suit yourself. What about you, Liz?" She asked, her attention now on Eliza.

"I'm not really a dancing type of gal." Eliza said. Sara shrugged and handed her beer off to Snart before going to dance by herself. Both Snart and Eliza watched her move around on the floor, before turning to each other.

"I figured you would be a dancing gal." Snart started, taking a sip from his beer.

"Well, you would have thought wrong. Didn't you ever hear; 'don't judge a book by its cover'?" Eliza asked. Her eyebrow raised in question and Snart's eyes brightened at her banter.

"I'm more popular of the saying, 'You want to remember that while you're judging the book, the book is also judging you.'"

Eliza's eyes widened and her mouth morphed into a large smile, "Stephen King?"

"I'm full of surprises Doc."

"Can I help you?"

Eliza and Snart turned back to the dance floor to see a beefed-up biker talking to Sara, and she did not look pleased. "How about you join me in the parking lot?"

"Hmm, tempting, but you're not my type. But you're lady, on the other hand, well she looks just my speed." Sara said, sending a flirty look to the woman at the bar.

"Maybe you didn't understand my request, bitch." The biker grabbed Sara's wrist, but before anyone could do anything else, she twisted it around and forced it down, making him let go. "Ah! Son of a-"

"I got this." Sara said calmly, turning to her teammates as the biker grabbed an empty bottle off the bar top. He smashed it against the side of the bar to make a weapon and came straight for Sara. Sara quickly blocked his attack then slammed her fist across his neck sending him down to the ground. Another guy, probably from the same biker gang, tried to help his buddy but ended up with him getting a kick to the face. She then dodged a punch from a third guy before grabbing his head and sending it to the ground hard.

One by one, guys kept coming up to try against Sara but she knocked them all down with her feet and fists. "Wow, its like she's a ninja." Eliza said, her eyes wide as she watched Sara in action. After taking down the 10th guy, all of them decided to get up at once and group together.

"Now I can stand for a little help." Sara said, turning quickly to the three before turning back to the biker gang in front of them. Snart slammed his and Sara's drinks down to the ground and started forward as Mick went for a stool that was sitting in front of him and hit it against one guy's back. Eliza turned her head just as a guy started towards her, but she punched him across the face sending him to the ground. She quickly finished her drink before throwing it at the next guy to pick her as their target. All four of them fought the biker gang, punches flying and bodies falling all while "Love Will Keep Us Together" by Captain and Tennille played from the jukebox. At one point, Mick even used the Bar top to slide some guy across it before slamming his head into the floor.

"I love the '70's." He said, watching all the mayhem they were causing. Eliza watched as Snart sent one guy into the jukebox, making the machine stop playing the catchy music. It made her loose focus enough to not notice one guy behind her, getting to wrap his arm around her neck.

"What are you gonna do now, sweet cheeks?" He asked, his warm breath laced with alcohol which made Eliza almost gag.

"How about this?" With enough leverage, Eliza flipped the guy over her shoulder and grabbed his arm, twisting it as he fell to the ground. With a kick to the face, the biker was out cold.

"So you don't dance but you fight?" Snart asked, coming to her side as he looked down at the guy unconscious under her boot. Eliza smiled at him, shrugging as she tossed the guy's arm to his side.

"Full of surprises, Snart. I'm jock-full of surprises."


End file.
